Stories indexed with the term ‘Hutchins Hall’

Renovations to UM Law Buildings OK’d

University of Michigan regents approved a $7 million renovation to vacated space in Hutchins Hall and the William W. Cook Legal Research Library, following the opening of South Hall in 2011. The project will encompass about 30,000 square feet and be designed by SmithGroup. It will be a phased project with construction coordinated to minimize disruption of the academic schedule. The project is expected to be complete by the summer of 2013.

Hutchins Hall, located at the northeast corner of South State and Monroe streets, is the main classroom and administrative building for the UM law school. The Cook Legal Research Library is part of the Law Quad.

This project adds to other recent changes in the law schools’ campus on South … [Full Story]

Column: Ann Arbor’s Monroe (Street) Doctrine

On the northeast corner at the intersection of State and Hill streets in Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan’s Weill Hall stands majestically as a landmark building, establishing the southwest corner of the UM campus.

Monroe Street University of Michigan Law School

Looking east down Monroe Street, across State Street. This section of Monroe Street is flanked by two University of Michigan law school buildings: Hutchins Hall to the north, and South Hall. (Photos by the writer. )

Following State Street north up the hill towards downtown will lead you to the intersection with Monroe Street. Turn right on Monroe, and you’ll wind up at Dominick’s, a local watering hole, majestic in its own right.

One parking option for patrons of Dominick’s is that first block of Monroe Street east of State. And what better topic to discuss over a pitcher of beer, sitting at a Dominick’s picnic table, than Ann Arbor parking rates. How much should it cost to use an on-street parking space on Monroe in that one block between State and Oakland?

Here’s a different question: How much for the whole damn block? I don’t mean just the parking spaces. I mean the whole right-of-way.

That question is part of a current conversation among public officials from the city of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan. The university is not interested in parking cars on that block. In fact, it’s the university’s desire that the thoroughfare be blocked to vehicular traffic. Permanently.

By tackling this topic, I’d like to achieve a two-fold purpose. First, I’d like to promote the daylighting of conversations now taking place out of public view. Second, I’d like to provide a rational way to approach calculating the value of city right-of-way, specifically in the general context of city-university relations.

Otherwise put, I’d like to sketch out a kind of Monroe Doctrine for Ann Arbor, which might in some ways mirror the message in the original Monroe Doctrine, set forth by President James Monroe in his address to Congress, on Dec. 2, 1823.

I’m not going to suggest including the part that talks about when “our rights are invaded or seriously menaced …” [Full Story]